The Cincinnati Reds and manager Dusty Baker have agreed to a two-year contract, the team announced via Twitter this afternoon.

Baker, 63, led the Reds to the NL Central title this year with a 97-65 mark, second best in the National League, but Cincinnati was knocked from the playoffs last week by the San Francisco Giants. Baker's contract expired with that NL Division Series loss.

Before the announcement, Baker's future had been a topic of much discussion around Cincinnati, where he has been the Reds manager since 2008, during which time the team is 419-391 (.517) and has made the playoffs twice, though it has lost in the NLDS both times.

His players had thrown their full support behind the team's re-signing him.

“He is the only manager I’ve known and he is the one I’m comfortable with,” Jay Bruce said, according to the Dayton Daily News. “He has been great to me, to the team, to everyone. I would love to have him back and I know he wants to come back, but there is a lot more to it than that. This is the team he wants to be with.”

Added Joey Votto: “All I can talk about is my relationship, playing under him, and I’ve really enjoyed playing for him. I’ve learned from him. I have utmost respect for him and I absolutely love calling him my manager.”

This season's record that was second-best in the NL behind the Washington Nationals and third-best in franchise history, behind the Reds' back-to-back World Series winners in 1975 and 1976, who won 108 and 102 games, respectively.

Baker, who missed some games late in the season after experiencing an irregular heartbeat and subsequently suffering a small stroke, has his detractors, primarily for his use of pitchers and some strategy decisions.

However, he has led the Reds to the playoffs twice in three years when they hadn’t made it in 15 previous seasons. He also deserves credit for nursing his team through a series of devastating injuries this season.

The Reds won the NL Central with a 97-65 record, second-best in the National League, but lost three straight at home against the San Francisco Giants to bow out of the playoffs in the NL Division.